Method for handling or processing semiconductor wafers

ABSTRACT

A method for handling wafers one at a time for processing without the necessity for transporting the wafers in a carrier such as a wafer cassette or basket. After a manufacturing step such as a polishing step, the wafers are carried to a loader assembly in a horizontal orientation under the influence of flowing liquid. The wafers are then individually erected into a vertical orientation by being first stopped by stopper pins which stand vertically on a wafer receiving plate of a suction arm including a suction nozzle which firmly holds the wafers while the arm is pivotally rotated until the wafer is positioned into a vertical orientation. The vertical orientation thus achieved allows the wafer to be gripped by a wafer gripping portion of a transportation robot including grooved gripping arms operated by a mechanism which limits the force applied to the wafer. Cleaning baths include an arrangement for supporting wafers in a near vertical orientation and nozzles which direct cleaning liquids in a direction tending to prevent floating of the wafers. A brush cleaning bath provides for simultaneous cleaning of both sides of the wafer with rotatory brushes during which the wafer is supported vertically and made to move circumferentially by rollers while periodic vertical motion between the wafer-supporting rollers and the brushes is achieved with a drive motor and ball screw. A drying bath using infrared light completes the cleaning procedure before the wafers are loaded into an unloader assembly into which wafer cassettes are set.

This application is a divisional of application Ser. No. 07/920,392,filed on Jul. 27, 1992, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,317,778.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an apparatus for automatically cleaningsemiconductor wafers in a one-by-one manner (single wafer transfersystem), including a wafer erection assembly, a brush cleaning bath, aplurality of wafer cleaning baths adapted to clean one wafer at a timeby having each wafer steeped (e.g. soaked thoroughly) in a generallyvertical orientation in the cleaning liquid, and a wafer handlingapparatus consisting of a robot arm.

2. Description of the Prior Art

In the semiconductor device manufacturing technology, the impuritiesadhering to the surfaces of the semiconductor wafers are known toadversely affect the properties of the resulting semiconductor devices.

Therefore, a cleaning step is included in the semiconductor wafermanufacturing process. In the cleaning step, the wafers are cleaned invarious methods which are classified broadly into two groups: mechanicalcleaning methods and chemical cleaning methods.

The mechanical cleaning methods include the brushing method wherein theimpurities adhering to the wafer surfaces are directly brushed off bymeans of appropriate brushes, the flushing method wherein the impuritiesare removed from the wafer surfaces as pressurized fluid from aninjection nozzle is applied to the wafer locally or entirely, theultrasonic cleaning method wherein the wafers are submerged in a liquidand the impurities are vibrated to detach from the wafer surfaces asultrasonic waves are applied to the wafers.

The chemical cleaning methods include the methods wherein the impuritiesadhering to the surfaces of the wafers are removed as they arechemically dissolved by various chemicals and enzymes. There are othercases wherein a chemical cleaning method is combined with a mechanicalcleaning method.

In the field of semiconductor manufacturing, the recent tendency of everincreasing density in semiconductor device has favored enlargement ofthe semiconductor wafer diameter. As the result, the conventionallyadopted method of cleaning a plurality of wafers at a time while theyare contained in a wafer carrier imposes heavy labor on the humanattendants.

Also, if the wafers are carried in the carrier, the wafers arecontaminated with particles and the like which they receive from thecarrier due to contact of the wafers with the carrier.

Furthermore, if the wafers after polishing are temporarily stocked towait until the next cleaning stage is ready to receive them, thesurfaces of the wafers are dried and the impurities may remain or beredeposited adhering to the wafer surfaces.

The present invention was contrived in view of the above problems, andit is, therefore, an object of the invention to provide an automaticwafer cleaning apparatus which is capable of automatically cleaning thewafers one by one after they are finished with the polishing treatment,so that it would become possible to do away with the conventionalcarriers (realization of carrier-less operation), reduce the necessityof human labor involvement, and improve the product quality.

To make the most of such an automatic wafer cleaning apparatus, it isdesirable that the wafers, after being polished, are transported to theautomatic wafer cleaning apparatus through a fluid, e.g., pure water),by means of the fluid stream so that the wafer is not allowed to dryduring the transportation. To convey the wafers by fluid stream, thewafers must be oriented horizontally in the stream. Therefore, if theautomatic cleaning apparatus is designed such that the wafers are heldvertically by the wafer handling apparatus such as a transportationrobot as they are transported one by one, then the wafers which arebrought in by the fluid stream, maintaining the horizontal orientation,must first be erected to a vertical orientation before each of them canbe held vertically by the robot arm.

Therefore, it is also an object of the invention to provide a method andan apparatus for erecting a wafer vertically after it has been broughtto the cleaning apparatus in a horizontal posture, so as to enable thewafer to be readily held vertically by the robot arm.

The surface of a wafer which has been polished is stuck to by particles,and to remove the particles by brush cleaning, it is necessary for anautomatic cleaning apparatus of single wafer transfer system to have thewafer stand vertically when it is brushed.

Therefore, it is also an object of the invention to provide theautomatic single wafer transfer type cleaning apparatus with a brushcleaning assembly which is capable of brushing both faces of avertically held wafer at once and at a high efficiency.

Furthermore, in the automatic single wafer transfer type cleaningapparatus, since the wafer is generally held vertically as it istransferred it is necessary that the wafer is held vertically and stablywhen it is steeped in the cleaning liquid of each cleaning bath.

Therefore, it is a further object of the invention to provide wafercleaning baths which are capable of allowing each wafer to be steepedvertically and held stably in the cleaning liquid for cleaningoperation.

The present invention further provides the cleaning apparatus with atransportation robot as a wafer handling apparatus which can hold thewafers vertically and transport them one by one to thereby attain theautomatic single wafer transfer type cleaning operation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In order to attain the object of the invention, there is provided anautomatic wafer cleaning apparatus, the present invention provides anautomatic wafer cleaning apparatus of single wafer transfer typecomprising: a loader assembly for receiving, in a liquid, the wafers tobe cleaned one wafer at a time, each wafer assuming the horizontalposition as each wafer is brought to the loader assembly carried by aliquid stream, and for erecting each wafer vertically; a brush cleaningbath for holding a wafer between a pair of cylindrical rotatory brushesto thereby clean both faces of the wafer at once; a plurality of wafercleaning baths containing respective cleaning liquids for receiving andcleaning the vertically steeped wafers one at a time; a dryer bath fordrying cleaned wafers; an unloader assembly for storing the dried wafersin it; and a transportation means for vertically holding andtransporting the wafers one at a time.

In a preferred embodiment, the loader assembly includes a wafer erectionassembly for receiving a wafer carried horizontally thereto and forerecting the wafer vertically, the wafer erection assembly comprising asuction arm having a wafer sucking means and a wafer positioning means,and a drive means for swinging the suction arm about a horizontal shaft.

In another preferred embodiment, the wafer positioning means comprises awafer receiving plate and stopper pins provided to stand vertically onthe wafer receiving plate in an arcuate row such that these pinscircumscribe a circle having a diameter equivalent to that of the wafer.

Furthermore, the invention proposes a method for erecting a wafercomprising the steps of: (a) stopping the wafer which is bornehorizontally by a liquid stream by means of stopper pins provided tostand perpendicularly on a wafer receiving plate in an arcuate row suchthat these pins circumscribe a circle having a diameter equivalent tothat of the wafer, (b) positioning the wafer by means of the stopperpins and the flow of the liquid in a manner such that the wafer iscircumscribed by the pins, (c) sucking and thus fixing the waferhorizontally on the brim of a suction nozzle provided at the end of asuction arm adapted to swing about a horizontal shaft, the nozzle beingconnected to a vacuum source via a vacuum suction conduit, then (d)turning the suction arm through an upward angle of 90° about thehorizontal shaft.

According to a still more preferred embodiment of the automatic wafercleaning apparatus, the brush cleaning bath includes a brush cleaningassembly for holding a wafer vertically between brushes and brushingboth faces of the vertically held wafer at once, the brush cleaningassembly having a pair of horizontal and parallel cylindrical rotatorybrushes, a brush drive means for driving the rotatory brushes to rotate,and a wafer drive means for supporting and driving the wafer to turncircumferentially.

Furthermore, it is preferable that the wafer cleaning baths eachcomprise a vertical thin tank for containing a cleaning liquid, a waferholder means for supporting the wafer nearly vertically in the verticalthin tank, and injection nozzles for injecting the cleaning liquidtoward the upper part of the wafer supported by the wafer holder means.

According to an aspect of the preferred embodiment of the invention, thewafer holder means is detachably hooked in the tank, and has a pair ofrollers at the lower part thereof which rollers are pivoted on therespective axes so as to freely rotate on them, the peripheries of therollers being V-letter shaped in profile so as to provide seats forwafer edges for supporting the wafer in a manner such that the waferleans on the tank wall and is slightly tilted from the verticalposition.

Furthermore, it is preferable if the dryer bath includes medium-waveradiators each having a medium-wave infrared ray lamp and short-waveradiators each having a short-wave infrared ray lamp.

According to a best mode embodiment, the transportation means includes awafer handling assembly and the wafer handling assembly comprises: ahorizontal duplex tubular complex comprising an internal hollow shaftand an external hollow shaft which latter is supported in a manner suchthat it can freely shift axially, while the internal shaft is freelyslidable in the external hollow shaft; a pair of vertical hold-betweenarms for holding a wafer therebetween, one arm being connected to theexternal shaft near one end the external shaft and the other arm beingconnected to the internal shaft at that end of the internal shaft whichis on the same side as the one end of the external shaft; an actuatorsubassembly which is functionally connected to the other ends of theexternal shaft and internal shaft, and is adapted to drive these shaftsin a manner such that these shafts are simultaneously shifted in theopposite axial directions by the same amount.

Effects

According to the invention, the invented automatic wafer cleaningapparatus is designed as a single wafer transfer type apparatus so thatthe wafers are supported and transferred by the transportation means oneby one, and as such it is possible to conduct a continuous cleaningoperation (that is, the wafers are not stocked temporarily); as aconsequence, the conventional batch-type wafer carriers are not requiredby the present apparatus (realization of the carrier-less operation), sothat a major contamination problem of the wafer is solved and the waferquality is improved. Furthermore, even if the wafers are comparativelyheavy due to their large sizes, as recently favored each wafer iscarried automatically by the transportation means so that the operatorneed not carry the wafers, thus it has become possible to save humanlabor.

Since each wafer which arrives in the loader assembly by assuming ahorizontal position, is picked up by the wafer erection assembly, it isnow possible for the wafer transportation means to hold the wafervertically without swinging of the robot arm.

Furthermore, according to the invention, it has become possible to brusha wafer while keeping the wafer vertically by virtue of the rotatorybrushes, and it is also possible to brush both faces of the wafer atonce.

Also, according to the invention, the actuator causes the internal andexternal shafts of the robot arm to move in opposite directionssimultaneously, whereby the vertical hold-between arms either decreaseor increase their distance so that a wafer can be held verticallybetween them or released from them, and thus the wafer can betransported while in a vertical orientation, and steeped (e.g. immersedvertically into each bath; thus, the wafers can be cleaned automaticallyone by one in each bath. Each bath is so equipped that the cleaningliquid is shot from the nozzles onto the upper part of the wafer whichleans on the wall opposite to the nozzles so that the wafer is presseddownward and would not float in the bath.

These and other objects and many of the attendant advantages of thisinvention will be readily appreciated as the same becomes betterunderstood by reference to the following detailed description whenconsidered in connection with the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front view of the automatic wafer cleaning apparatusaccording to the invention.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the automatic wafer cleaning apparatusaccording to the invention.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the automatic wafer cleaning apparatusaccording to the invention.

FIG. 4 is a flow sheet showing the arrangement of the automatic wafercleaning apparatus according to the invention.

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the wafer erection assembly.

FIG. 6 is a cross section taken on line VI--VI of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a cross section taken on line VII--VII of FIG. 5.

FIG. 8 is a sectional side view of the handling mechanism of thetransportation robot.

FIG. 9 is a top plan view of the handling mechanism of thetransportation robot.

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary sectional side view of the brush cleaningapparatus.

FIG. 11 is a view of the same brush cleaning apparatus seen in thedirection of the arrow d of FIG. 10.

FIG. 12 is a partially sectional top plan view of the same brushcleaning apparatus.

FIG. 13 is a sectional view taken on the line VIII--VIII of FIG. 12.

FIG. 14 is a view seen in the direction of the arrow f of FIG. 12.

FIG. 15 is a partially broken-away front view of a cleaning bath.

FIG. 16 is a top plan view of the same cleaning bath of FIG. 15.

FIG. 17 is a partially cross-sectional side view of the same cleaningbath of FIG. 15.

FIG. 18 is a enlarged detail of the portion g of FIG. 17.

FIG. 19 is a view of the same cleaning bath seen in the direction ofarrow h of FIG. 15.

FIG. 20 is a cross section of the dryer bath.

FIG. 21 is a graph showing a relationship between the irradiation timeand the intrabath temperature when the two medium-wave radiators areused to generate medium-wave infrared ray.

FIG. 22 is a graph showing a relationship between the irradiation timeand the intrabath temperature when the two short-wave radiators are usedto generate short-wave infrared ray.

EMBODIMENT

Next, an embodiment of the invention will be described with reference tothe attached drawings.

FIGS. 1, 2, and 3 are respectively a front view, a top plan view, and aside view of the automatic wafer cleaning apparatus according to theinvention; FIG. 4 is a flow sheet, and this automatic wafer cleaningapparatus has a loader assembly A, a wafer reception bath B, apreliminary cleaning bath C, a brush cleaning bath D, five cleaningbaths E, F, G, H, I, two preliminary baths J, K, a dryer bath L, and anunloader assembly M.

As shown in FIG. 4, the loader assembly A and the wafer reception bath Bare filled with highly pure water, which is supplied to themrespectively via a conduit 1 and a conduit 2. Incidentally, the purewater which overflows from respective overflow tanks 3, 4 of the loaderassembly A and the wafer reception bath B flows through respectiveconduits 5, 6 and then through a drain conduit 132 to be drainedeventually, so that the levels of the pure water in the loader assemblyA and the wafer reception bath B are maintained constant.

The wafers which have had one of the faces polished to mirror finish inthe preceeding polishing stage are automatically transported one by oneto the loader assembly A, and then into the wafer reception bath B borneby the flow of the pure water.

In the wafer reception bath B is installed a wafer erection assembly 7,as shown in FIGS. 5 through 7. Incidentally, FIG. 5 is a top plan viewof the wafer erection assembly 7, and FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 are crosssections taken on lines VI--VI and VII--VII of FIG. 5, respectively.

As shown by the drawings, in the wafer reception bath B a rotatory shaft8 is borne at its ends by a pair of bearing units 9, 9 in a manner suchthat it is freely rotatory, and a suction arm 10 is rigidly andperpendicularly connected at its one end to the middle portion of therotatory shaft 8. A suction nozzle 11 is provided at the fore end ofthis suction arm 10, and a vacuum suction conduit 12 opens into thissuction nozzle 11. Also, this vacuum suction conduit 12 is connected toa vacuum source such as a suction pump, not shown, by means of aconduit.

Also, a wafer receiving plate 13 is adhered to the suction arm 10, andfour stopper pins 14 are provided to stand firmly and vertically on thewafer receiving plate 13 in an arcuate row such that these pins 14circumscribe a circle having a diameter equivalent to that of the waferW and having the center exactly above the center of the nozzle 11.

As shown in FIG. 7, a gear 15 is locked about one end of the rotatoryshaft 8, and this gear 15 is meshed with a gear 17, which is lockedabout the end of the output shaft of a servomotor 16.

A wafer W borne into the wafer reception bath B is stopped by the fourstopper pins 14 of the wafer receiving plate 13, and thus forced toassume a position such that the center of the wafer W coincides with thecenter of the nozzle 11 of the suction arm 10, which has been turned topose horizontally and submerged in the pure water to wait for the wafer,as shown by solid line in FIG. 6. Thereafter, as the vacuum source, notshown, is operated, suction is applied to the wafer W which is thus heldfirmly by the vacuum nozzle 11 by virtue of the negative pressureworking at the nozzle 11.

Next, as the servomotor 16 is operated, the rotational torque thereof istransmitted to the rotatory shaft 8 via the gears 17 and 15, and therotatory shaft 8 and the suction arm 10 together with the wafer W areturned through an angle of 90° in the direction shown by the curvedarrow (clockwise as seen in FIG. 6), whereby the wafer W is erectedvertically, as shown by two-dot chain line in FIG. 6.

The wafer W, now erected by means of the wafer erection assembly 7, asdescribed above, is held vertically and gripped by a transportationrobot 20, shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, and is automatically transported fromthe wafer reception bath B to the preliminary cleaning bath C.

Now, the construction and operation of the transportation robot 20 willbe described with reference to FIG. 8 and FIG. 9. Incidentally, FIG. 8is a sectional side view of the transportation robot 20 and FIG. 9 is atop plan view of the same robot.

In these drawings, a reference numeral 21 designates a base mounted onthe top face of a vertically shiftable shaft 22, and supportedhorizontally by this base 21 are hollow shafts 23, 24, which form aduplex tubular complex and are freely shiftable horizontally. Inparticular, the external hollow shaft 23 is supported by a shaft bearingunit 25 in a manner such that the shaft 23 can freely shift horizontallyrelative to the bearing unit 25 which is mounted on the base 21. Theinternal shaft whose outer diameter is slightly smaller than the innerdiameter of the tubular shaft 23, is passed inside the shaft 23 and isfreely slidably supported by the bearing units 26, 26, which areprovided at the ends of the shaft 23. A pair of vertical hold-betweenarms 27, 28 for holding a wafer W therebetween are respectivelyconnected to the shaft 23 and shaft 24, the arm 27 near one end of theshaft 23 and the arm 28 at that end of the shaft 24 which is on the sameside as said one end of the shaft 23. Connected at the other ends of theshafts 23 and 24 are respectively an arm 29 and an arm 30.

The lower part of the arm 29 is slidably penetrated by a horizontalshaft 31, and similarly the lower part of the arm 30 is slidablypenetrated by a horizontal shaft 32, these shafts being collinear witheach other and parallel to shafts 23, 24. Those ends of the shafts 31,32 which face each other are respectively provided with flanges 33 and34. A spring 35 is provided round the slidable shaft 31 and between thearm 29 and the flange 33, the spring 35 being compressed therebetween tofunction as a stress absorber. Similarly, a compressed spring 36 isprovided round the slidable shaft 32 and between the arm 30 and theflange 34.

Also, as shown in FIG. 9, an actuator 37 is mounted on the base 21, andthe four reciprocation rods 38 extend horizontally from the actuator 37,two to the left and two to the right, as seen in FIG. 9. A flange 39 isfixed at the ends of the right rods 38, and a flange 40 is fixed at theends of the left rods 38. These flanges 39, 40 are connected to theflanges 33, 34, respectively. Incidentally, a bellows tube 41 isprovided between the right-side bearing unit 26 and the arm 28 so thatthat portion of the shaft 24 which lies between the right-side bearingunit 26 and the arm 28 is enclosed in the bellows tube 41, which expandsand contracts without touching the shaft 24.

Thus, when the actuator 37 is operated to simultaneously withdraw therods 38 each by the same amount, the shaft 23 moves leftward, as seen inFIG. 8, and the shaft 24 rightward by the same amount, so that thehold-between arms 27, 28 connected to these shafts move apart from eachother, as shown in two-dot chain line in FIG. 8; on the other hand, whenthe rods 38 are pushed outward by the same amount, the shaft 23 movesrightward and the shaft 24 leftward by the same amount, whereby thehold-between arms 27, 28 close their distance to hold a wafer Wvertically between them, as shown in solid line in FIG. 8. Incidentally,once the arms 27, 28 has thus touched the periphery of the wafer W, theshafts 23 and 24 will not move in the directions of closing the arms 27,28, and thus the further outward movement of the rods 38 is absorbed bycontraction of the springs 35, 36 so that the actuator 37 is preventedfrom accumulating further stress on the shafts 23, 24 to urge the arms27, 28 to close their distance more; as the result, the wafer W is safefrom receiving excessive force which may damage it. As a further safetymeans, a stopper 43 is provided to restrict the outward movement of theflange 39, as shown in FIG. 9, so that even if there is no wafer Wbetween the arms 27, 28 to stop their closing moves, the arms 27, 28automatically stop closing when the flange 39 is stopped by the stopper43; thus the minimum distance between the arms 27, 28 is determined byadjusting the stopper 43.

The wafer W thus held by the transportation robot 20 is transported intothe preliminary cleaning bath C, and steeped in the cleaning liquidcontained in the preliminary cleaning bath C and as the result the waxadhering to the back face of the wafer W is removed. Incidentally, asshown in FIG. 4, the cleaning liquid is supplied from a purifierinstallation, not shown, to the preliminary cleaning bath C by way of aconduit 44.

The wafer W which has thus gotten rid of the wax in the preliminarycleaning bath C is then brought to the brush cleaning bath D, again bymeans of the transportation robot 20, and the both faces of the wafer Ware simultaneously brushed in this brush cleaning bath D.

Next, the construction of a brush cleaning apparatus 50 installed in thebrush cleaning bath D will be described with reference to FIGS. 10through 14. Incidentally, FIG. 10 is a fragmentary sectional side viewof the brush cleaning apparatus 50, FIG. 11 is a view of the sameapparatus 50 seen in the direction of the arrow d of FIG. 10, FIG. 12 isa partially sectional top plan view of the same apparatus 50, FIG. 13 isa sectional view taken on the line XIII--XIII of FIG. 12, and FIG. 14 isa view of the same apparatus 50 seen in the direction of the arrow f ofFIG. 12.

In FIGS. 10 and 11, a reference numeral 51 designates a ball screw whichis supported vertically and freely rotatory, and a slider 53 isthreadably mounted on the ball screw 51 in a manner such that the slider53 ascends or descends along the ball screw 51 guided by guides 52, 52.A base body 54 is supported by this slider 53. A gear 55 is locked aboutthe upper end of the ball screw 51, and the gear 55 is meshed with agear 57 which is locked about the free end of the output shaft of adrive motor 56.

As shown in FIG. 12, two horizontal rotatory shafts 58, 59 are supportedby the base body 54 in a manner such that the shafts 58, 59 are freelyrotatory; about the fore ends of the rotatory shafts 58, 59 are lockeddrive rollers 60, 61, respectively. A vertical plate 62 is borne by thefore portions of the rotatory shafts 58, 59, and two guide rollers 63,64 are supported by the plate 62 in a manner such that the guide rollers63, 64 are freely rotatory. As shown in FIG. 13, the guide rollers 63,64 and the drive rollers 60, 61 are arranged in an arcuate row such thatthese rollers circumscribe a circle having a diameter equivalent to thatof the wafer W.

A drive motor 65 is mounted on the base body 54, and, as shown in FIG.11, a belt 68 is passed around a pulley 66 locked about the free end ofthe output shaft of the drive motor 65 and around a pulley 67 lockedabout the rotatory shaft 58. Also, another pulley 69 is locked about amiddle portion of the rotatory shaft 58, and a belt 71 is passed aroundthe pulley 69 and a pulley 70 locked about the rotatory shaft 59.Incidentally, as shown in FIG. 11, a tension pulley 73 which turns abouta shaft 72 is adapted to impart a predetermined tension to the belt 71.

As shown in FIG. 12, two cylindrical rotatable brushes 74, 75 arearranged in a manner such that they are freely rotatory about theircentral axes which are horizontal and perpendicular to the rotatoryshafts 58, 59 when projected on the sheet of FIG. 12. These rotatorybrushes 74, 75 are supported by respective rotatory shafts 76, 77, whichare borne by bearing units 79, 79, 80, 80, in a manner such that theshafts 76, 77 are freely rotatable, and these bearing units 79, 79, 80,80 are capable of shifting freely along parallel guide rails 78, 78.Therefore, the rotatory brushes 74, 75 are adapted to shift in the axialdirections of the rotatory shafts 58, 59, that is, the brushes 74, 75can sideways approach and detach from each other. Incidentally, therotatory shafts 76, 77 are always pressed in one axial direction bymeans of compressed springs 81, 82 each provided around respective oneend portions of the shafts 76, 77, and the other ends of the shafts 76,77 are provided with pulleys 83, 84, respectively.

Drive motors 87, 88 are mounted on base members 85, 86, respectively,which support those bearing units 79, 80, respectively, which are on theside toward which the shafts 76, 77 are pressed, and the free ends ofthe output shafts of these drive motors 87, 88 are provided with pulleys89, 90, respectively. A belt 91 is passed around the pulley 89 and thepulley 83, and a belt 92 is passed around the pulley 90 and the pulley

Further, as shown in FIG. 14, an actuator 94 is mounted on a stationarybase 93, and the base members 85, 86 are respectively connected to rods95 via joints 96, 96, 97, 97. Incidentally, the bases 85 and 86 arealways pulled away from each other by means of expanded springs 99, 99which are each hooked between respective joints 96, 96 and respectiveretainers 98, 98 standing on the stationary base 93. Also, stoppersupport members 100, 100 stand on the stationary base 93, and stoppers101, 101 for regulating the displacement amounts of the base members 85,86, threadably penetrate through these support members 100, 100,respectively, in a manner such that the stoppers 101, 101 can be shiftedaxially for adjustment.

Thus, as shown in FIG. 4, the cleaning liquid and the pure water heatedto a predetermined temperature (e.g., 40° C.) in the heater bath 102 aresupplied to the brush cleaning bath D, where both faces of the wafer Ware brushed simultaneously by means of the brush cleaning apparatus 50,shown in FIGS. 10-14, and the particles are removed from the wafer W.Incidentally, the heater bath 102 is supplied with the cleaning liquidsand the pure water via conduits 103 and 104, separately, and the brushcleaning bath D is supplied with the cleaning liquids and the pure watervia conduits 106 and 107, respectively. The used cleaning liquid andpure water are drained from the brush cleaning bath D via a conduit 108.

Next, the operation of the brush cleaning apparatus 50 will be describedwith reference to FIGS. 10 through 14.

Before a wafer W is set in the brush cleaning apparatus 50, the rods 95of the actuator 94, shown in FIG. 14, are pulled out due to the pullingforces of the springs 99, 99, and, therefore, the rotatory brushes 74,75 are held apart from each other, as drawn in one-dot chain line inFIG. 10, so that a predetermined amount of clearance is formed betweenthe two brushes.

The wafer W held by the transportation robot 20 (ref. FIG. 8) isinserted vertically between the rotatory brushes 74, 75, and the lowerperiphery rests on the drive rollers 60, 61 and guide rollers 63, 64.

Thereafter, the actuator 94 is driven in a manner such that the rods 95are withdrawn, and this causes the rotatory brushes 74, 75 to approacheach other and press the wafer between them.

If the drive motor 65 is driven at this moment (ref. FIG. 11), therotational torque is transmitted to the rotatory shaft 58 via the pulley66, the belt 68, and the pulley 67, and also to the rotatory shaft 59 byvirtue of the pulley 69, the belt 71 and the pulley 70; as the result,the rotatory shafts 58, 59 turn in the same direction and the wafer Wresting on them starts turning circumferentially at a predeterminedrate. Incidentally, it is at this time that the cleaning liquid isapplied to the wafer W.

Also, with reference to FIG. 12, if the drive motors 87, 88 are driven,the rotational torque of the motor 87 is transmitted to the rotatoryshaft 76 via the pulley 89, the belt 91, and the pulley 83, andsimilarly the rotational torque of the motor 88 is transmitted to therotatory shaft 77 via the pulley 90, the belt 92, and the pulley 84,whereupon these rotatory shafts 76, 77 together with the respectiverotatory brushes 72, 75 start turning in the opposite directions (insuch directions that the wafer W is pressed onto the drive rollers 60,61 and the guide rollers 63, 64), and thus both faces of the wafer W arecleaned with the brushes 74, 75 and the particles are removed. Duringthis brushing, the drive motor 56 (ref. FIG. 11) is operated in a mannersuch that the direction of its rotation is alternated periodically, andsuch rotation is transmitted to the ball screw 51 via the gears 57, 55,and as the ball screw 51 repeats turning in one direction for a periodof time and then in the opposite direction for the same period of time,the slider 53 threadably ridden on the ball screw 51 climbs up and downtogether with the base member 54; as the result, the drive rollers 60,61 and the guide rollers 63, 64 as well as the wafer W resting on theserollers are brought up and down altogether, and the wafer faces arecleaned uniformly all over including the center portions, so that theparticles sticking to the wafer W are all brushed off the wafer'ssurface.

The wafer W thus brushed is then held by the transportation robot 20,and transported into the next bath, which is the cleaning bath E, whereit is rinsed.

Next, the construction of the cleaning bath E will be described withreference to FIGS. 15 through 19. Incidentally, FIG. 15 is a partiallybroken-away front view of the cleaning bath E, FIG. 16 is a top planview of the same bath, FIG. 17 is a partially cross-sectional side viewof the same bath, FIG. 18 is a enlarged detail of the portion g of FIG.17, and FIG. 19 is a view of the same bath seen in the direction ofarrow h of FIG. 15.

The cleaning bath E is essentially made of a vertical thin tank 110, andan overflow tank 111 is formed adjacent to a one of the big walls of thebath E, and an overflow pipe 112 is connected to the bottom of theoverflow tank 111. Incidentally, the overflow pipe 112 is connected atits other end to a drain conduit 132 shown in FIG. 4.

A drain pipe 113 is connected to the bottom of the tank 110, and asshown in FIG. 15 and FIG. 19, the bottom face of the tank 110 is slopedlengthwise toward the drain pipe 113, and also sloped widthwise towardone sideline. Therefore, the contaminants and impurities that fall onthe bottom of the tank 110 slide toward said one sideline and eventuallytoward the drain pipe 113 along the sideline, and as the result, all ofthe contaminants, etc. are drained from the tank 110 by way of the drainpipe 113, and no contaminants, etc. remain in the bottom of the tank110.

In the vicinity of the top of the tank 110, a chamber S (FIG. 17)defined by a cover member 114, is formed, and a supply pipe 116 of asupply conduit 115 is connected to the chamber S, as shown in FIG. 4. Asshown in FIG. 18 in detail, the chamber S communicates with the tank 110via a plurality of injection nozzles 117 which are made through thatwall of the tank 110 on which the chamber S is formed. The injectionnozzles 117 are sloped downwardly toward the tank 110.

Below the supply pipe 116 for the tank 110 is provided a supply pipe118, which is also connected to the supply conduit 115 (ref. FIG. 4),Incidentally, in FIG. 15, a reference numeral 119 designates a pipe forsupplying a cleaning fluid.

In the tank 110 is provided a rectangular holding frame 120 forsupporting the wafer W in a manner such that the wafer W is slightlytilted from the vertical position. This rectangular holding frame 120has a pair of rollers 121, 121 at the lower corners which are pivoted onthe respective axes so as to freely rotate on them; the peripheries ofthe rollers 121, 121 are V-letter shaped in profile, and thus receivethe peripheral edge of the wafer W. As shown in FIG. 17, the holdingframe 120 is hung vertically in the tank 110, since a hook 120a formedat the upper part of the frame 120 is hooked on the upper edge of thatwall of the tank 110 which is not formed with the injection nozzles 117.

Incidentally, as shown in FIG. 4, the entire body of the cleaning bath Eis steeped in the pure water contained in a tank 122, and an ultrasonicwave generator 123 is installed in the lower part of the tank 122.

Thus, the wafer W held by the transportation robot 20 (ref. FIG. 8 andFIG. 9) is steeped in the pure water of the tank 110 with the waferperiphery resting on the rollers 121, 121 of the holding frame 120, asshown in FIG. 15; the robot 20 releases the wafer W and the upper partof the wafer W receives the water stream which is ejected into the tank110 from the injection nozzles 117 (ref. FIG. 18), and as the result,the wafer W is forced to abut against the frame 120 as it slants alittle from the vertical position and held in such position stably.Furthermore, since the injection nozzles 117 are sloped downwardlytoward the tank 110 (i.e., toward the wafer W) the wafer W receives adownward force and is therefore pressed on the rollers 121, 121; as theresult, the wafer W is prevented from floating in the pure water and isforced to assume the position shown in FIG. 17. Incidentally, the purewater is supplied to the tank 110 mainly by way of the supply pipe 118and also by the injection nozzles 117, and the pure water that hasoverflown into the overflow tank 111 from the tank 110 is sent to thedrain conduit by way of the overflow pipe 112.

With the things arranged as described, the entire body of the cleaningbath E is subjected to the ultrasonic waves generated by the ultrasonicwave generator 123, and the wafer W supported by the frame 120 in thecleaning bath E is rinsed with the pure water.

Next, the cleaning bath F will be described. The construction of thecleaning bath F is identical to that of the cleaning bath E, and, asshown in FIG. 4, a tank 124 is installed below the cleaning bath F.

Two different kinds of cleaning liquid are supplied to the tank 124 byway of the conduits 125 and 126, respectively, and their mixture ispressurized by means of the pump 127, heated to a predeterminedtemperature (e.g., about 80° C.) by a conduit heater 128, and thenpassed through a filter 129 to enter the cleaning bath F.

The wafer W which has been rinsed in the cleaning bath E is again heldby the transportation robot arm 20, and removed from the cleaning bathE, and then it is transported to the cleaning bath F, where the wafer Wis steeped in the cleaning liquid mixture contained in the cleaning bathF, in the same manner as shown in FIG. 15, and the particles adhering tothe wafer's surface are removed.

Incidentally, the wafer W which has been freed of particles in thecleaning bath F is of a high temperature (e.g., about 80° C.), and ifthis wafer is raised out of the liquid as it is, the wafer's surfacepromptly dries with unfavorable results; therefore, the hot cleaningliquid mixture in the cleaning bath F is returned to the tank 124 by wayof a conduit 130, shown in FIG. 4, and simultaneously as this, purewater is supplied to the cleaning bath F by way of a pure water conduit115, with which the wafer W is promptly cooled and, at the same time,rinsed. Then, the pure water having been used to cool the wafer W issent to the drain conduit 132 by way of a conduit

Now, the constructions of the cleaning baths G, H, and I are the same asthose of the cleaning baths E and F, and the wafer W which has beencleaned in the cleaning bath F is carried by the transportation robot 20to the cleaning baths G, H, and I in sequence, treated with pure waterat the cleaning baths G and I and with a cleaning liquid at the cleaningbath H; as the result, the ionic impurities sticking to the wafer'ssurface are removed.

The wafer W thus cleaned and treated variously in the baths C through I,is then carried by the transportation robot 20 to the dryer bath L,where it is quickly dried.

Now, the construction of the dryer bath L will be described in detailwith reference to FIG. 20.

The dryer bath L comprises a highly heat insulating casing made ofstainless steel, and a quartz glass beaker 142 is installed to stand inthe center of the casing 141. The beaker 142 opens upward, and at theupper brim is provided a shower unit 143 for raining pure water into thebeaker 142, and to the bottom portion of the beaker 142 are connected aninert gas supply pipe 144 and a pure water drain pipe 145.

The beaker 142 is encircled by a tubular shield 146; to the inner wallof the shield 146 are attached two short-wave radiators 147, 147, oneover the other, each consisting of a short-wave infrared ray lamp, andsimilarly a pair of medium-wave radiators 148, 148 each consisting of amedium-wave infrared ray lamp are attached to the inner wall of theshield 146 at a location diagonally opposed to the short-wave radiators147, 147.

The top opening of the beaker 142 is closed by a lid member and twocooling fans 150, 150 are provided at the upper portion of the casing141.

Thus, the interior of the beaker 142 is cleaned with the pure waterpoured by the shower unit 143, and the pure water thus used is drainedfrom the casing 141 by way of the pure water drain pipe 145. Thereafter,the medium-wave radiators 148, 148, and the cooling fans 150, 150 areswitched on, whereupon the beaker is first heated by the medium-waveradiators 148, 148. Incidentally, FIG. 21 shows a relationship betweenthe irradiation time and the intrabath temperature when the twomedium-wave radiators 148, 148 of 800 W are used to generate medium-waveinfrared ray.

Next, when a wafer W is set in the beaker 142 with its mirror face facedwith the short-wave radiators 147, 147, these radiators 147, 147 areswitched on and an inert gas (e.g., nitrogen, argon) is blown into thebeaker 142 through an inert gas supply pipe 144 and it is sealedtherein; thus, the mirror face (polished face) of the wafer W in theinert gas atmosphere is subjected to the irradiation of the short-waveinfrared ray, and thereby forced to dry quickly. FIG. 22 shows arelationship between the irradiation time and the intrabath temperaturewhen the two short-wave radiators 147, 147 of 1.5 KW are used togenerate short-wave infrared ray; it is seen from the graph that if theshort-wave radiators 147, 147 emit the short-wave infrared ray forthirty seconds, the temperature inside the dryer bath L rises promptlyto about 70° C., while if the medium-wave radiators 148, 148 emit themedium-wave infrared ray for the same length of time (30 seconds), thetemperature inside the dryer bath L rises only to about 25° C. (ref.FIG. 21). Incidentally, simultaneously as the short-wave radiators 147,147 and the medium-wave radiators 148, 148 are switched on, the coolingfans 150, 150 are started so that these short-wave radiators 147, 147and the medium-wave radiators 148, 148 are cooled.

Now, the wafer W dried by the infrared ray is taken away from the dryerbath L by means of the transportation robot 20, and stored one by one inwafer cassettes 115 (ref. FIG. 4) which are set in the unloader assemblyM. Thus, an automatic continuous one-by-one wafer cleaning operation iscompleted. As described so far, the automatic cleaning apparatus of thepresent invention operates in a wafer-by-wafer manner wherein the wafersW are held and transported by the transportation robot 20 one afteranother and are treated continuously, that is, the wafers are notgrouped and stocked in a carrier such as a wafer cleaner basket for abatch manner cleaning operation; as the result, the conventionalcarriers are not needed in the present system, and the so-called"carrier-less" operation is realized, and thus the problem of wafercontamination ascribable to the carriers has been solved, and the wafersW will be cleaner and of higher quality. Also, even when the wafers W tobe cleaned have a relatively large diameter and thus are heavy, sincethe wafers W are handled automatically by the transportation robot 20one by one, the human operator is spared of the painstaking work and,therefore, much human labor is saved.

Results of the Invention

As is clear from the above description, according to the invention, theautomatic wafer cleaning apparatus is constructed to comprise: a loaderassembly for receiving in the liquid the wafers to be cleaned one byone; a brush cleaning bath for holding a wafer received between a pairof turning brushes to thereby clean both faces of the wafer W at once; aplurality of cleaning baths containing respective cleaning liquids orpure water; a dryer bath for drying cleaned wafers; an unloader assemblyfor storing the dried wafers in it; and a transportation means forholding and transporting the wafers one by one; so that now theconventional carriers are useless in the present apparatus (realizationof the carrier-less operation), and it has become possible to save humanlabor, and increase the wafer quality.

Obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention arepossible in the light of the above teachings. It is therefore to beunderstood that within the scope of the appended claims the inventionmay be practiced otherwise than is specifically described.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for handling or processing a wafercomprising the steps oftransporting a wafer in a horizontal orientationto a wafer erecting location by a flowing liquid; stopping andpositioning said wafer in said flowing liquid with an arcuate array ofstopper pins positioned on a receiving plate, said arcuate array ofstopper pins circumscribing a circle having a diameter equivalent to adiameter of said wafer; applying suction to said wafer with a suctionnozzle mounted on a suction arm, said suction arm being rotatable abouta horizontal shaft; rotating said suction arm about said horizontalshaft to move said wafer to a vertical orientation; gripping a waferbetween two vertical hold-between arms respectively attached to innerand outer coaxial shafts which are axially shiftable relative to eachother; and vertically shifting said two vertical hold-between arms andsaid inner and outer coaxial shafts; said gripping a wafer includingfurther steps of applying axial shifting forces to said inner and outercoaxial shafts with an actuator; and limiting gripping forces applied tosaid wafer with an elastically deformable link between said actuator andrespective ones of said inner and outer coaxial shafts.
 2. A method asrecited in claim 1, including the further steps ofimmersing said waferin a liquid-filled bath, releasing said wafer; and directing liquidagainst a face of said wafer to counteract a tendency of said wafer tofloat in said liquid-filled bath.
 3. A method for erecting a wafercomprising the steps of: (a) stopping the wafer which is flownhorizontally by a liquid stream by means of stopper pins provided tostand perpendicularly on a wafer receiving plate in an arcuate row suchthat these pins circumscribe a circle having a diameter equivalent tothat of the wafer, (b) positioning the wafer by means of said stopperpins and a flow of the liquid in a manner such that the wafer iscircumscribed by the pins, (c) sucking and thus fixing the waferhorizontally on a brim of a suction nozzle provided at an end of asuction arm adapted to swing about a horizontal shaft, said nozzle beingconnected to a vacuum source via a vacuum suction conduit; then (d)turning said suction arm through an upward angle of 90° about saidhorizontal shaft.